e."

He thought me quite mad.

Let us walk down the street toward that delicious splash of
green--like a verdant spray thrown up from some unseen river of trees.
There is, in reality, no river of trees; it is only Christopher Street
Triangle, elbowing Sheridan Square. Subway construction is going on
around us, but there clings still an old-world feeling. Ah, here we
are--59 Grove Street. It is a modest but a charming little red-brick
house with a brass knocker and an air of unpretentious, small-scale
prosperity. It has only been built during the last half-century, but
it stands on the identical plot of ground where Paine's other
Greenwich residence once stood. It wasn't Grove Street then; in fact,
it wasn't a street at all, but an open lot with one lone frame house
in the middle of it. Here Mme. de Bonneville brought Thomas Paine when
his age and ill health necessitated greater comforts than Mrs.
Ryder's lodgings could afford.

Here he spent some peaceful months with only a few visitors; but those
were faithful ones. One was Willett Hicks, the Quaker preacher, always
a staunch friend; another was John Wesley Jarvis, the American
painter--the same artist who later made the great man's death mask.

It was Jarvis who said: "He devoted his whole life to the attainment
of two objects--rights of man and freedom of conscience."

And, by the bye, Dr. Conway has declared that "his 'Rights of Man' is
now the political constitution of England, his 'Age of Reason' is the
growing constitution of its Church."

In passing I must once again quote Mr. van der Weyde, who once said to
me: "I often wonder just what share Mary Wollstonecraft had with her
'Rights of Women'--in the inspiration of Paine's 'Rights of Man.' He
and she, you know, were close friends."

Another friend was Robert Fulton of steamboat fame. I have truly heard
Paine enthusiasts declare that our "infidel" was the authentic
inventor of the steamboat! In any case, he is known to have "palled"
with Fulton, and certainly gave him many ideas.

There were, to be sure, annoyances. He was, in spite of Mme. de
Bonneville's affectionate protection, still an object of persecution.

Two clergymen were especially tireless in their desire to reform this
sterling reformer. I believe their names were Milledollar and
Cunningham. Janvier tells this anecdote:

"It was during Paine's last days in the little house in
Greenwich that two worthy divines, the Rev. Mr. Mill